Trolley-shoe



JOSEPH S. OBRIEN, 0F WESTFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

TROLLEY-SHOE. I

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

Application filed July 3, 1920. Serial No 393,785.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH SpQBRIEN, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Westfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Trolley- Shoe, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in non-rotary devices carried at the upper ends of trolley poles to slide under and in contact with the trolley wire, and which are commonly termed shoes, and consists essentially of a suitable holder or frame that is adapted to be attached to a'trolley pole, and a member which is preferably spherical or approximately so, and is provided with a plurality or multiplicity of trolley-wire-receiving grooves, in the periphery or sides thereof, designed to serve individually as guides for said member when in contact with a trolley wire, said member being supported in and carried by said frame, together with locking means for said member, whereby the latter is held stationary in said frame,

but may be released to enable the same to be adjusted in or removed from the frame, all as hereinafter set forth.

' Actual practice and experience have demonstrated the fact that a non-rotary member or shoe, at the end of a trolley pole for contact with the trolley wire, outlasts a considerable number of rotary members or wheels which have heretofore been very extensively and commonly used, and the primary object of myinvention is to provide a trolley shoe that, by reason of its peculiar construction which comprises or in which is included a plurality or multiplicity of receiving or engaging parts for the trolley wire, is capable of adjustment so that, when one such part is worn away sufficiently to be of no further use, another can be presented or located in operative position and which shoe therefore has a very much longer life than the ordinary shoe. A great saving in expense thus accrues, more especially since my shoe is simple and comparatively inexpensive to construct, operate, and maintain.

Another object is to provide a shoe of this character that can be easily and quickly adjusted to bring into position for contact with the trolley wire a fresh and unworn partor grooved portion, and which can be I taken ac rued-p t weather asa msed ly and conveniently. The purpose of and need for this last advantage will appear more clearly hereinafter. I

Other objects and advantages will appear in the course of the following-- description.

I attain the objects and secure the advantages of my invention by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a top plan of atrolley shoe which embodies a practical form of my invention; Fig. 2, a side elevation of said shoe; Fig. 3, what may be termed. an end elevation of the shoe as viewed from the right of Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4, an enlarged, central, horizontal section through the wireengaging element or shoe proper, taken on lines 44, in Fig. 2, and, Fig. 5, an enlarged, central, vertical section through said wire-engaging element, on lines 5-5, Fig. 2.

The last two views are taken with the wire-engaging element disposed as it is in the other views. 1 Similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout the several views.;,;

In the embodiment of my invention presented herewith the same comprises, as will be seen upon referring to the drawings, a holder or frame 1 which is provided at one end with a downwardly and outwardly oblique socket 2, a spherical member 3 which isthe element that comes into direct contact with the trolley wire, and which may be termed a spherical shoe, a bolt 6 that constitutes a shaft or spindle-upon which said spherical shoe is mounted, the latter being received in said frame, a nut 7 for said bolt, and a lock-screw 8 to hold said spherical shoe in. place or prevent the same from rotating on said spindle after ad-; j.

justment of the shoe has been effected.

The frame 1 has flaring ears or wings 9-9 at the top to serve as guides to direct the device into place in contact with the trolley wire, such wings being not unlike similar members on other trolley-shoe devices at the upper ends of trolley poles, both stru turally and functionally.

The socket 2 is designed to receive therein the upper terminal of a trolley pole, and it, is by means of this socket that the device is attached to such pole. There is an opening 10through the frame 1 and thesides. thereof, which opening is large enough to admit is received in suitable openings made in the centers of the end portions of the frame 1 in line with the horizontal diameter of the opening 10, and said spindle is held in place longitudinally by its head and the nut 7, as clearly appears, and may be Withdrawn from said frame upon the removal of said modate the lock-screw.

The spherical shoe 3 has intersecting,

might-angular passages 12 and 13 therein,

either of which passages is adapted to receive the splndle 6. In the periphery of the spherical shoe 3, arranged concentrically with the passage'12, is a series of grooves I 1 1, there being twelve such grooves in the present case. And arranged in the periphery of the spherical shoe 3, concentric with the passage 13, are two sets or series of grooves 15, there being three such grooves at and adjacent to eachend of the passage 12 in the presentcase. The grooves 14: are

parallel with thepassage 12, and the grooves 15 are parallel with the passage 13. The

grooves 14 and 15 vare all practically alike in shape and dimensions, just as the pasgrooved part 14 (or 15) is of a size and sages 12 and 13 are alike. Each groove or shape suitable for the reception of and en.-

, gagement with a trolley wire, as 16 in Fig.

'16 and slides along the same.

3, and of sliding along in contact with such wire.

When the spherical shoe 3 is mountedin the frame 1 with the spindle 6 extending through the passage 12, the grooves 14 are in operative position, or, rather, one of such grooves is in such position, and-the others are adapted to be moved at any time into such position. The uppermost groove or grooved part 14 receives the trolley wire After the V aforesaid uppermost groove or grooved part has become. worn to a sufiicient extent, a

fresh or unworn groove or grooved part 1 1" is'presented beneath the wire, the spherical shoe 3 being partially rotatedon the spindle 6 to the'extent necessary to locate in operative position the fresh groove. After all of the grooves 14 have become incapacitated for further use, the nut 7 is removed from the spindle 6, the latter is withdrawn from the spherical shoe 3, the latter is turned to present to said spindle the passage 13, and

said spindle is thrust through said passage and into place again in'the frame'and resecured with said nut. Now the grooves or grooved parts'15 are in position for use 111 place of the grooves or grooved parts 14, and each of said grooved parts 15 is orrnay be utilized for engagement with the wire 16 justas was each of the grooved parts 14. Until all of the grooved parts 1 1 and 15 have become practically useless by reason of wear the spherical shoe 3 is serviceable, wherefore it is clear that this shoe will endure a long time and outlast a very large number of ordinary trolley shoes, and still a greater number of trolley wheels. 7

The lock-screw 8 is turned inwardly to engage with its inner end the spherical shoe 3, after said shoe has been adjusted for the location of any of its grooves 1 1 or 15 in receiving and operating position beneath the wire 16. lVhen it is desired to rotate the spherical shoe 3 on the spindle 6, or to remove said shoe from said spindle for any purpose, it is first necessary to turn the lockscrew 8 outwardly a suflicient distance to clear said shoe. 7

WVhen the spherical shoe 3 is entirely worn out, another can be substituted therefor in the holder.

More or less change in the shape, size,

construction and arrangement of some or all of the parts of this device may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention or exceeding the scope of what is claimed.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A trolley shoe comprising an approximately spherical member having therein a plurality of peripheral trolley-wire -receivng grooves, and means to support said memher at the upper end of a trolley pole.

2. A trolley shoe comprisingan approximately spherical member having therein pluralities of peripheral trolley 'wire-receiving grooves arranged concentrically with two axes of said member which are at rightangles to each other and means to support said member at the upper end of a trolley pole.- l V '3. A trolley shoe comprising a member having two axes at right-angles to each other, and alsohaving in the sides thereof pluralities of trolley-wire-receiving grooves arranged adjacent to the ends'of said axes, and means to support said member at the upper end of a trolley pole. 1 r

4:. The combination, in a trolley shoe, with a holder adapted 'to be connected with the upper end of a trolley pole, and provided with supporting means, of a member having in the sides thereof a plurality of trolley-wire-receivinggrooves, said holder having an opening therein to receive said grooved member, and the latter being adjustably mounted on said supporting means.

5. The combination, in a trolley shoe, with a holder adaptedto be'connected with the upper end of a trolley pole, and provided with supporting means, of a member having in the sides thereof a plurality of trolleywire-receiving grooves, said holder having an opening therein to receive said grooved member, and the latter being mounted on said supporting means, and means to lock said groved member in place on said supporting means.

6. The combination, in a trolley shoe, with a holder adapted to be connected with the upper end of a trolley pole, and provided with supporting means, of a member having in the sides thereof a plurality of trolley-wire-receiving grooves, said holder having an opening therein to receive said grooved member, and the latter being mountend on said supporting means, and a lockscrew arranged in said holder to engage said grooved member and hold the same against rotation.

7. The combination, in a trolley shoe, with a frame provided at the top with guide wings, and further provided with a trolleypole-engaging member, and a spindle in said frame, of a member having in the sides a plurality of trolley-wire-receiving grooves, and also having axial passages at rightangles to each other to receive said spindle, said frame having an opening therein to receive said grooved member, and releasable means to prevent said grooved member from rotating on said spindle.

8. The combination, in a trolley shoe, with a frame provided at the top with guide wings, and further provided with a trolleypole-engaging member, and a spindle in said frame, of a member having in the sides a plurality of trolley-wire-receiving grooves, and also having axial. passages at rightangles to each other to receive said spindle, said frame having an opening therein to reoeive said grooved member, and a lock-screw tapped into said frame and adapted to en gage said grooved member to hold the same against rotation.

9. A trolley shoe comprising a member havingin the sides thereof a plurality of trolley-wire-receiving grooves arranged approximately parallel with the axis of said member, and means to support said member for adjustment at the upper end of a trolley pole.

JOSEPH S. OBRIEN. Witnesses:

ELIZABETH G. RICE, LOUISE A. DOERING. 

